1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for outputting various characteristic indicators closely related to health condition of a human being.
2. Prior Art
A body weight and a ratio between body weight and body height are generally known as characteristic indicators of health condition of human being. Recently, a proportion of body fat to the body weight has come to be added as one of the characteristic indicators of health condition. The characteristic indicators of body weight, body height and body fat are referred to as the physical indicators.
Recently, the proportion of the body fat to the body weight has come to be determined by measuring impedance of one""s body and the body height and calculating the body fat from those values on the basis of a certain experimental formula. The terminology of xe2x80x9cbody fatxe2x80x9d used herein is intended to cover a weight of body fat for the impedance of the body or a proportion of the body fat to the body weight. The terminology of xe2x80x9clean body massxe2x80x9d used herein is intended to cover a weight of lean body obtained when the body fat is subtracted from the body weight, or its proportion to the body weight.
The physical indicators (body weight, body height and body fat) are closely related to the condition of one""s health, and there are difficulties in judging the condition of one""s health from those physical indicators only.
The conditions of one""s health are closely related to the general organic parts of the body and the physical capacities, including the function of the body as well as the physical indicators. Hence, only the measurement of the physical indicators can only take the results of the one""s current physical indicators but cannot go far enough to evaluate the function of the body.
Additionally, this conventional way of measuring only those physical indicators is not sufficient to give advice or suggestions to users on what and how to improve in order to grow strong in health.
Further, from the viewpoint of, for example, how to reduce the body fat, the conventional way of measuring only the physical indicators is inadequate.
Suppose there is a person who has a lot of body fats and strong muscles, for example. That person can be considered to bum much calories and thus grow healthfully. Thus, even if a person has a lot of body fats, that does not directly mean that he/she is not healthy.
Conversely, even if he/she has a small amount of muscles, if the muscles have excellent capacities, he/she can be considered to be healthy.
From this viewpoint, the proportion of the muscles to the body weight or the lean body mass can be said to be a critical indicator. In addition, instantaneous power and staying power of the muscles can also be said to be critical indicators of the health condition.
The existing devices can neither measure these critical indicators in a simple and easy manner nor explain what the measurement results mean in specific terms or give practical advice on what the user should be done for his/her health in the future.
Generally, the functions of the body, such as the instantaneous power and the staying power of the muscles, decline with age, while however, the physical capacities can be kept or improved by training. There are no existing devices having the capability of making comparison between the functions of the body and the standard physical indicators at selected ages so that a health year equivalent of the functions of the body of the person measured can be determined from the difference therebetween or a general health year of the person measured can be derived from the preset age-specific standard indicators containing the comparative data, to give it to the person measured in a simple and easy manner.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made with the aim to provide a device capable of generally grasping the health condition of a person measured and outputting the shade of meaning and a practical advice for his/her health in the future.
A health indicator measuring device according to the present invention comprises an arithmetical operation means for computing data of a lean body per body height or data of a body fat per body height on the basis of the respective data of body weight, body fat and body height. The data of the lean body per body height is an indicator of a lean body mass per body height. The data of the body fat per body height is an indicator of a body fat weight per body height.
The health indicator measuring device includes a physical function measuring means to measure function of the body and an output means to output a function indicator computed on the basis of the function of the body measured.
The functions of the body include total physical response time, instantaneous power, staying power, and cardiopulmonary function.
Further, the physical function measuring means is intended to measure a qualitative aspect or a quantitative aspect of muscle of a person to be measured. The qualitative aspects of the muscle include indicators such as total physical response time, total physical staying power, muscle strength, instantaneous power and staying power of muscle. The quantitative aspects of muscle include indicators related to the muscle, such as the lean body mass.
With this construction, not only the conventional measurements of the body weight and body fat but also more specific indicators, such as the muscle strength and the total physical response time, can be measured so that further specific indicators for health can be grasped.
The output means of the health indicator measuring device according to the present invention is intended to compare the function indicator computed on the basis of the function of the body measured with preset standard indicators, to output data of the difference therebetween. With this construction, the function indicator as was computed is compared with a preset standard indicator for an age of the person to be measured, and the data of the difference is the difference therebetween or a proportion of the difference to the total function. Thus, the difference can be determined by comparing the function indicator computed on the basis of the function of the body with the standard indicator.
The output means is preferably intended to compare the function indicator computed on the basis of the function of the body measured with preset standard indicators at selected ages, to output an equivalent age to a closest indicator as an indicator of a health year equivalent. With this construction, a health year on the standard indicator equivalent to the data of the body fat per body height of the person to be measured, the function of the body and the quantitative or qualitative aspects of the muscle is output. Thus, the person to be measured can know from his/her indicators about to which year his/her indicators are equivalent on the standard scale in the form of the health year equivalent.
Further, the output means has the capability of outputting an advice data on a practical fitness for health related to the function of the body measured. This advice data suggests the point to notice for health in the future in the concrete form.